Job Preparation Guide

Tell me about the most boring job you have ever had

At times, the interviewer may ask you to describe your job or talk about the most boring job you ever had. Now, this may sound like a trick question, and the truth is that it is. The interviewer doesn’t actually care about your job or how you felt about it. Instead, this question wants to find out more about you as a person. Primarily, it wants to see what kind of person you are, what you find boring, and how will you react to this job if you get it.

In finding out what you find boring, the interviewer will be able to gauge what you like and don’t like. More importantly what aspects of this job will you like or dislike. Hence, using this information, they can determine whether or not you will be a good fit for this position and for this company.

So how should you answer this question? Not negatively. As the interviewer is looking at you and your nature rather than the job, whatever you do, you cannot be bitter or negative about your previous jobs. Don’t bad mouth the job, your supervisor, or the company. As part of the management team, the interviewer probably abides by the rule: there is no bad job or company, only bad employees. And you don’t want to be one of those employees.

Instead of commenting on what a bad or boring job it was, focus on what you learned on the job, despite of it. Highlight your achievements and accomplishments, try to show that despite of everything you persevered and grew. Also, perhaps mention how you didn’t let yourself get bored, and that you utilized the time to learn something new, as each position has something to teach you. Or perhaps talk about how you used that time to work on other skills or on a side project. The trick here is to show that you didn’t let yourself get bored, instead show that you are one of those people that takes a bad or negative thing and uses it to your advantage.

Sample Answer:

Sure there were some times that were boring on a job, but I don’t think that the job itself was boring. Any job can be interesting if you want it to be. Instead of focusing on the negative, I try to focus on what I am learning in the meanwhile. In those boring times, I developed a game with myself so see how many objectives I could check off, thus the job immediately became more interesting and challenging. After all, boring is just a matter of perspective really.